Fire and Ice
by Meggle
Summary: How did I get here . . . A month ago I was so sure of what I wanted for my life . . . A life with Edward. For eternity. It sounded so great. So what happened? Jacob. My first fic! Please read and review!
1. The Engagement

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. They are property of Stephenie Meyer.**

**Prologue  
**

How did I get here . . . A month ago I was so sure of what I wanted for my life . . . A life with Edward. For eternity. It sounded so great. So what happened? Jacob. How could I be so sure of my decision one day, then totally do a 180 and think the opposite the very next day? How could the only thing I want for my life was for it to end and be a vampire with Edward and then want to be with Jake and have a family and children and grow old with him. How did I get here? How could this one decision leave me heart broken and torn?

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**The Engagement**

My hand was sweating, despite the coldness of Edward's hand in mine, as we walked together hand in hand up to the front door of my house. I heard the faint sound of celebration and cheers and knew Charlie was in there watching the game. I looked over at Edward, trying to hide the nervous look I knew had to be plastered to my face. He lifted the hand that was holding mine and rubbed my cheek with the back of his hand while whispering soothing reassurances to me. I took a deep breath. I wanted to believe him, but I just didn't see how this would be alright. But there was no sense in putting it off any longer. Charlie would have to find out sooner or later. Edward let go of my hand as we walked in through the door. His talent of being able to read Charlie's mind came in handy sometimes and he knew how uneasy Charlie got when we were 'too close' as he had told me once. I ignored Edward's gesture to try and make this as easy on Charlie as possible. I needed him right now. Charlie would just have to deal with it.

" Hey kiddo!" Charlie said as he saw us enter the room and walk over to the couch beside the television. "What's wrong? You seem a bit uneasy Bella," he finished and looked at Edward's hand entwined with mine. I knew Charlie must have thought something Edward didn't want him thinking which was probably why he tried to release my hand again, but I quickly grabbed it again.

"Dad. I have something to tell you," I said trying to sound as calm as possible.

"Oh my god . . . Oh. My. God, '' was all Charlie said and I felt Edward stiffen next to me. "You're pregnant aren't you, Bella! I thought we had a talk about this! " Charlie began to scream as he jumped from his chair. I had never seen Charlie move so quickly. " Get out Edward! I do not want you around my daughter! "

" No! Dad no! I am not pregnant!" I screamed suddenly embarrassed by my father's jump to conclusions. Edward smirked beside me. I could see how he thought this was funny. " Dad. I am not pregnant. I already told you me and Edward are not like that," I told him. I was suddenly nervous to see his reaction to the real news.

I didn't have to wait for long. All it took was a simple movement. I quickly cursed myself for not pulling my hair back into a ponytail. If I had pulled my hair back then a stray lock of hair would not have fallen in front of my face, therefore making me swipe it away with my left hand. A tiny gold glint passed in front of my face and the look of understanding crossed Charlie's face. 'Oh no' I thought as I saw Charlie's face suddenly turn red and him giving Edward a death stare. "Bella . . . Go to your room."

"Dad! I don't have to go to my room!" I screamed, my teenage instincts suddenly taking over.

"As long as you live in my house you will listen to me!"

"Well news flash Charlie. I am eighteen. I could move out if I wanted to!"

"Bella! NOW!"

I had never seen Charlie so mad, which was probably why I stopped arguing with him and began the ascent to my room. I took a quick glance at Edward, but he didn't see me. He was staring right back at Charlie.

I got up to my room. They both should have known that I would be listening . . . I stood at my door to listen, but honestly I would have still heard them if I had closed it and sat on my bed.

"What are the two of you doing?! She is only eighteen! What kind of idea have you put into her head! You both are too young to even know what love is!"

" Charlie, I understand your concerns, but Bella and I are truly in love. Even if we waited ten years, our love would be the same . . . It only has room to grow," Edward said calmly, but loud enough for me to hear. I shuddered at the thought of waiting ten years. Even though that was what Edward really wanted. More time. I couldn't do that.

" That's what you two think know! But three years from now . . . Even though you say you two will still feel the same how can you be so sure. I do not want to see Bella get hurt! I will not see Bella get hurt! You have already hurt her once. I will not let you do that to her again!" Charlie hit a soft spot there. Edward gave himself a hard enough time after leaving me. Now Charlie would never let him forget it. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to run down there and comfort Edward and I knew with the silence that followed Charlie's comment that he was beating himself up even more.

" I know I left. I will never forgive myself for leaving her. I told her it was up to her. If she wanted to take me back. She didn't have to, but because she did I am making it my life's purpose to make it up to her every day. I will not hurt her again. I would harm myself before I ever put another tear in her eye."

" I can't let you two do this . . . It will ruin your lives!"

" I left the decision up to Bella. I am more than willing to wait as long as it takes for her, but you know your daughter Charlie. She is headstrong." It wasn't all true. He left out the biggest part. The part where I wanted Edward to change me into a vampire himself and him using marriage as a trade for it. There was of course the latest amendment to our deal, but that was best left out as well. I couldn't help but smile when I remembered that conversation, but then I was abruptly brought back to Earth with Charlie's next words.

" What do you want from me?" he asked without emotion. I cringed at the sound of his voice. It had never sounded so empty.

" Well . . . I would love to have your blessing, but I understand if you don't give it to us. Bella just thought you should know. We both wanted you to know," Edward said truthfully.

" Just . . . Let me talk to Bella . . . I am sorry Edward, but I am going to try my hardest to talk her out of this."

" Go ahead. I have already tried," Edward said. I knew what he was really talking about. Of course he wanted me to marry him, but me marrying him meant him turning me into a vampire and that was what he tried so hard to talk me out of.

" Good bye Edward," Charlie said as he walked Edward to the door. I closed my door and walked over to my window.

In the next moment Edward was next to me.

" I won't be far. Listen to Charlie." He pleaded with me and was out my window just before Charlie's foot hit the top step.

"Bella!" he called to me. He tapped on my door and asked "Can I come in?"

I quickly walked over to my bed and said, " Yes."

" Bella . . . I need to talk to you," he said and I nodded back at him. I knew he needed a minute to think about what he wanted to say. " Why so soon? Why can't you wait? How do know that this is really what you want? How can you be sure he won't leave you again?"

" Dad . . . I know Edward hurt me in the past, but that doesn't matter to me now. I love him and he loves me. I know he would never leave me ever again if it wasn't what I wanted. I can't think of anything that I want more than to be with Edward forever. For him to belong to me and for me to belong to him."

" But Bella . . . You are so young. You are about to go off to college. You will meet new people. You will change. How do you know this is what you want for the rest of your life when your life has hardly begun?"

" Dad. Believe me. There is nothing I want more. I know I will be happy with Edward and I know he would never hurt me. Really. I would be in good hands. I love him and his family has even already begun to welcome me into their family. We are basically married now. The only thing is we don't have a little piece of paper saying we are.'

"And you don't live together," Charlie added quickly.

"And that," I said. Charlie didn't know that Edward frequently stayed over at night. That was best kept between me and Edward.

" Are you sure Bella . . . Don't you want to wait a few years?"

I had heard that before . . . Of course. It came from Edward. Why was everyone around me so intent on me waiting till I was an old woman to become a vampire? All right. So maybe I am being overly dramatic . . . I wouldn't be an old woman, but if Edward is going to be seventeen for the rest of eternity I refuse to be any older than nineteen. Although I would prefer eighteen.

" Dad . . . I have never been more sure of anything in my life. Even though I am only eighteen, I know I will never be so sure of anything ever again. Please believe me. This is what I really want."

'I just . . . I just don't want the same thing that happened to . . . me and your mom . . . to happen to . . . you." Charlie's voice broke on the last word. I crawled forward and wrapped my arms around him to comfort him.

"Dad . . . I am a big girl. I know what I am doing."

"Bella . . . You will always be my little girl. I can't help, but try and take care of you. I just don't want you to get hurt."

" I won't," I said truthfully . . . At least . . . I wouldn't get hurt mentally. Physically . . . Well . . . I vividly remember the burning pain I had when James bit me. But once again that was something I didn't want to trouble Charlie with. He had enough with the news of the engagement.

With one look at Charlie he knew I wasn't changing my mind. " Edward was right . . . You just aren't going to change your mind are you?"

"No . . . I won't. Do we have your blessing?"

"Bella . . . "

"Dad. It is really important to me . . . I don't want to marry Edward knowing that you hate the whole thing . . . "

"Then don't marry him," Charlie said hopefully.

"No chance . . . Sorry, but with or without your blessing we are doing this . . . I would just prefer to have your blessing. Also . . . If we have your blessing then it will make the conversation with mom a bit easier." I wasn't ready to take on mom just yet, but I knew I couldn't put that off for long.

" You have my blessing . . . " Charlie sad with a frown. I jumped up and hugged him with all of my strength. " That doesn't mean I completely agree with it . . . I am still hoping you will come to your senses and wait a while."

"Thanks dad," I said, ignoring the last part of his sentence. " I love you."

" I love you too, Bella, '' he said, then slowly closed the door.

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**A.N.-**

This is my first fic so please don't go too hard on me. I do appreciate all reviews, just please don't be too harsh. I am on the fence of even posting this... I guess if people accept my story well, then I may continue. I am still not sure so please review!


	2. Truth

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse.**

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**Truth**

Once my door was closed, I felt something cold encircling me. "Hello Edward," I said trying to catch my breath. He never took me by surprise when he did stuff like that. It was just being around him in general that made me unable to breathe. For some reason he just had that effect on me. I thought how much I would miss it once I had vampire senses and once my silly human habits were gone. My talent of holding my breath whenever Edward touched me always made him smile. Hopefully he would still have that effect on me after I changed. I know I wouldn't have to breathe, but it was something that just made him even more special to me. The simple fact that even after all this time he still left me breathless.

" You are so stubborn," he said. His beautiful voice was muffled. I turned to see what had his voice muffled when I saw he had dug his head into one of my pillows.

"Edward?" I asked. He knew I wanted to know what was wrong and that I wanted him to explain why he was acting that way.

" See Bella. It isn't just me who wants you to wait. Even Charlie does. And even though my family loves you and wants you to be a part of it all, I know they wish you would still wait and cherish your time as a human. Even though they don't say it. I can hear what they are thinking," he said looking at me hoping I would still change my mind.

" Edward. We talked about this . . . You promised . . . If I marry you, then you change me . . . We made a deal. "

"I know, but I still wish I had more time."

" Edward . . . I believe in you. I know you can do this. I know you won't hurt me."

"It's not that, Bella."

"Then what is it?"

" I ... I am going to miss the little human things about you . . . " he said looking away from me.

" But in return you'll have me forever," I said sliding deeper into his arms.

" Yeah . . . But I'll never be able to hum you to sleep. To see you blush. To hold you while you walk so you won't trip. To catch you when you do trip."

"But you also won't have to be so careful with me. And you won't be so tempted.''

" I told you Bella . . . I got over it . . . That doesn't bother me now."

"But still . . . We will be together forever . . . I . . . thought that was what you wanted."It hurt me to think it, but seeing Edward trying to wiggle his way out of this made all the feelings of rejection and pain swell up in me. Edward could see it too.

"Shhh . . . Bella . . . Of course it is what I want . . . I just . . . Would you understand if I said I was only human. I just want what is best for you," he said with a light chuckle.

" Well did you ever think that turning me into a vampire so I am not always in so much danger is what is best for me? Did you ever think that maybe you are what is best for me? Edward. You know what I was like after you left." Edward had let go of me and now I sat in my bed facing him. I saw the flicker of hurt in his eyes after I finished my last sentence. He could see that I wasn't too happy with him right now.

" Bella . . . I promise. I will never leave you again if it isn't what you want. I am so sorry for all that pain that I caused you."

"Well you are still causing me pain now." He looked confused for a minute, then a look of hurt crossed his beautiful features as silent tears trickled their way down my cheeks. " Edward. I have never wanted something so much. I want to be with you. Forever. And you keep trying to change my mind. Don't you want this too?" Even more pain and rejection hit me. Maybe he didn't want this. Maybe it was just me who wanted to spend forever with him. I was just something to make the time pass. He did have forever to spend after all. I was just a neat little hobby for the time being. No . . . How could I think that. Why would I think that? I was once again grateful that I was the only one immune to Edward's power of mind reading. I turned away from Edward as the tears began to flow heavy. " Please go . . . I need to be alone tonight." I hated the few nights Edward was not with me when I slept, but I suddenly found myself not wanting him there. I didn't want him to see me like this. So confused. I was always the one who already had my mind made up. He always secretly wanted me to change it. Now . . . I think he was finally getting what he had wanted.

" I'll . . . I'll be at my house," he said and then silently exited through the window. I turned to try and catch a last glimpse of him as he left, but as always, his vampire speed was too fast for my eyes. I sat on my bed crying harder. I don't know why, but I suddenly wanted a strong pair of arms to comfort me and I didn't want the arms that had been comforting me for the last two days. I wanted Jacob's. I jumped off my bed and grabbed my jacket while walking to my door. I took the steps two at a time and tried to hide my face from Charlie.

"Bells . . . Where are you going? It's almost eight thirty.'' He was still in his chair watching the game. The volume was down low, so I knew he wasn't really into it.

"I am just gonna make a little trip down to La Push. I won't be long, I promise."

" Bella . . . You aren't going to tell Jake are you? I don't think that would be such a great idea right now."

" No . . . I just want to see him." I grabbed my keys and ran out the door a sudden chill creeping through me as I realized the temperature had dropped since this afternoon.

It was sprinkling as I made my way to the driver's side of my truck. I quickly jumped in and put the key in the ignition, turned it and brought the red monster to life. I hummed to myself, trying to calm my nervous mind, as I drove the all too familiar streets making my way to the invisible boundary line between the werewolves and vampires. Only I could love a vampire and be best friends with a werewolf. It wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact that werewolves and vampires were enemies. And of course the other fact that Jacob loved me and I loved him. I did . . . I knew it and so did everyone else. But the truth was I loved Edward more . . . I couldn't live without him . . . I couldn't exist without him. But after our conversation tonight I began to question myself. I had said that being with Edward was what was best for me . . . I had believed that fully. But now . . . It seemed everyone was telling me he wasn't. Even Edward himself was saying it wasn't what was best for me. Maybe that was why he was so against turning me into a vampire. Cause he knew I would be happy for the first few years. But what if I came to my senses? What if it really was Jacob that I wanted. To grow old with him. To have a family and try my hardest to make him happy every day for the rest of my life. It all sounded so wonderful, but then again eternity with Edward would be wonderful as well . . . And that wasn't the only thing troubling me. There was the whole treaty thing. The pack would be waiting to pounce on the Cullens at the first sign of me becoming a vampire. I didn't want any of them getting hurt over me. I knew if Edward changed me a war would break out. The werewolves would use anything to try and sink their specialized teeth, made just for ripping vampires apart, into one of the Cullens. I grew even more nervous when a thought of Edward and Jake fighting against each other crossed my mind. I knew Edward wouldn't hurt Jacob. He had told me time and time again that he couldn't hurt me like that . . . I knew it would hurt him just as much as it would hurt me . . . But would Jake do the same thing? Would he care that killing Edward would hurt me or would he do anything to get him out of the picture? 'Stop thinking that Bella!' I ordered myself quietly. How could I think that?! I was suddenly even more disgusted with myself.

My mind was going a thousand miles an hour when I pulled up in front of Jacob's house. I immediately though about what Edward would be thinking. Alice would have seen me decide to visit Jacob. And of course Edward would see her vision . . . Or lack of a vision. I was suddenly thrown back to Earth when a knock on my window came to my attention. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Jake. It was kinda like when I was around Edward, but instead of Jake leaving me breathless he made me smile. I felt all the hurtful words I had said to him a few days ago fall away. How could I stay away from him?

"Hey Jake," I said as I opened the door and fell into his arms. We stood there, just holding each other for what seemed like hours, but couldn't have been more than two or three minutes. I found myself wondering why I wasn't cold. I remembered the chill I got as I left my house, then I remembered Jake's high body temperature and hugged him even tighter.

" What are you doing here? Don't get me wrong . . . I wish you would stay forever, but it is kinda late," he said to me as he pulled back and took a look at me. He saw my puffy red eyes and could tell I had been crying. "Bella . . . What's wrong . . . Did that leech do something to you? If he did, I will make sure he pays!"

"Jake no . . . Edward didn't do anything to me," I said, not completely telling the truth . . . Of course Edward would never hurt me, but him insisting me to wait had driven doubt into my mind and I was hurting only due to the fact that I wasn't completely sure of what I wanted. Jake could tell I was hiding something.

" Then was it Bella? Why did you come here?" Before I could blink, Jake's expression went from loving and welcoming to hard and cold.

" I... I'm not sure . . . I think I made a mistake . . . "

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**A/N: Ok... So this update isn't as long as I would like it to be, but oh well... And yes I know... It is a cliffhanger. What can I say? I like to keep people on the edge.  
**


	3. Newcomer

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse... Well... I bought the books, but the rights to them belong to Stephenie Meyer... I do however own any and all characters or ideas that my imagination comes up with.**

* * *

**Newcomer**

"What do you mean 'a mistake'? " Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.

" I mean . . . I don't know what I mean anymore, " I simply stated to him. "What am I doing? " I silently asked myself as I processed where I was and why I came here.

" Do you want to talk about it . . . It may test my patience for you to talk about that leech, but if it helps to make you fell better I would gladly listen," he said as he grabbed my hand and used his other hand to tilt my face up toward him. Once our eyes met I could see a smile creep on his face. It had been too long since I had spent time with Jacob. There was no way I couldn't see him anymore. After I was changed, we would just have to try our hardest to still have a healthy friendship . . . Besides. Apart from the whole mythical aspect that we were sucked into we were still Jacob and Bella.

"So how's Charlie?" he asked as I finally met his smile with my own.

"He's ok," I stated back, leaving out the part that he had almost had a heart attack an hour before. Jacob didn't need to be troubled with the announcement of mine and Edward's wedding.

"That's good. Billy mentioned the other day that he hadn't heard much from him lately. He was trying to get a hold of him to ask if he wanted to come down and watch the game this weekend."

" I'll tell him when I see him," I said to Jake as I noticed the subtle hint in his voice, asking me to carry on the message.

"You know . . . If Charlie does come down, you are welcome too. Actually you are welcome even if Charlie doesn't come down."

"I know Jake," I said trying to hide the smile in my voice that I knew I should not have. Why did Jake do this to me?

"So do you wanna come in and watch TV or something?"

"I don't know," I said as I suddenly became confused as to why I was even there. I knew Edward and I had gotten into a little fight, but I should have known that running off to Jacob would just make things worse. I didn't want to fight with Edward and even though I loved being around Jacob I couldn't spend all of my time wining to him about Edward and if I spent a great amount of time with Jake it was only a matter of time before I accidently slipped up and 'spilled the beans'. I had a wedding to plan with Alice and hide from Jacob. I knew he already knew, but I didn't want him to know when we were planning on doing it.

"Jake. I'm sorry. I know I just got here, but I have to go. I shouldn't have come here. I made a mistake."

" Bella! Wait! I don't want you to go. Can't you stay a little longer?"

" No, Jake. I have to go now if I want him to forgive me."

" Who? Oh . . . You and the bloodsucker must have gotten into a fight. And as always I am the one you run to." I knew he secretly liked that. "You know. You two should really get into fights more often, " he said and smiled at me again.

"Thanks, but no thanks, " I said and smiled to him as he pulled me into one of his hugs. I breathed in his familiar scent and tried my best to put it to memory. Who knew when I would see Jake again?

"Bye Jacob! " I said as I pulled myself out of his hug and back into the cab of my truck. I quickly pushed the gear into reverse and back out of Jake's driveway while he stood and waved to me.

I drove down the road and little faster than I should have. I had to slow down. For one if I didn't slow down, then I would most likely miss the Cullen's drive way. The second reason . . . Well how bad would it look if the daughter of the chief of police was given a speeding ticket. That was the closest thing you would get to a scandal in Forks. Well . . . At least to those who weren't a part of the mythical world I was sucked into a little over a year ago. And to think that on my first day here, Edward had wanted to kill me. Now we were engaged. Oh the irony.

My eyes barely caught their drive way as I made my way down the road, but I turned just in time. Once I was in the drive way I sped up. It was a straight shot from here.

I pulled up in front of the Cullen's garage and turned my truck off. I quickly climbed out wanting to get inside and talk to Edward as soon as I could. I ran up the stairs, proud that I had only tripped once and knocked on the door. As soon as my hand came back to strike the door for a second time, it was open and I quickly stopped myself before I hit Jasper.

" Bella? What are you doing here so late?"

" It's not that late," I said a little annoyed. Why did everyone keep saying that?" Where's Edward?"

"Oh everyone is in the living room, " he said and looked at me nervously.

"Bring her in Jasper! I don't see anything happening! " I heard Alice scream from the living room. She didn't have to scream. Jasper would have heard her if she had used a regular talking voice.

" Come in Bella, " Esme said appearing from behind Jasper. He moved out of the doorway for me to pass and I entered the house.

I followed Esme into the living where sure enough everyone was, but there was an extra person.

"Bella! What a pleasure for you to show up. This is Avery. She was just passing through and stopped by to meet our family, " Carlisle said as I entered the room and saw the beautiful woman sitting between Rosalie and Emmett.

" Hello," I said shyly to her. I quickly found Edward standing by the window, looking at me. I smiled at him and made my way over to where he stood. " Hey," I said as I approached him. " I really need to talk to you, Edward." He looked at me nervously and nodded, picking me up and running upstairs with vampire speed.

Once we were in his room, he laid me on the huge bed that now took up most of the space in his room and then went over to his window. It seemed he was a little uneasy then I remembered our conversation from earlier. That would probably explain the strange behavior he was showing.

"Edward. I am so sorry for the way I acted earlier . . . ," but before I could finish he was at my side on the bed, looking into my eyes.

"Bella. It should be me apologizing. Not you. You did absolutely nothing wrong. I am the one at fault. Not you. I never should have tried to change your mind. I want you to be with me more than anything. I am . . . I am just scared that you . . . won't want me.'' I could see the hurt in his eyes as he spoke to me. Without thinking, I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. I hated seeing my angel in pain. Especially when it was me, who caused him the pain.

"Edward don't blame yourself. It's me. All me. I just thought that the reason you kept trying to change my mind was because you didn't want me around forever."

"Bella. If I hadn't tried to change your mind once again you never would have thought that. I am a terrible person for putting you through that. I am so sorry."

I knew he was truly sorry. He always was. It was hard to not believe the sincerity in his voice when he talked. His musical voice almost sang his words rather then spoke them. I closed my eyes trying to come up with a sentence again. I had one, but I forgot it as usual.

"Edward don't be . . . I forgive you, but can you forgive me?"

"You didn't do anything. I pushed you to think that. This is all my fault."

"That's what you think." I smiled at him, " But will you still forgive me. I wasn't thinking very clearly earlier. And for that I am sorry." He softly nodded his head and I knew I was forgiven. I was comforted at the fact that we were no longer fighting. It wasn't even a real fight, but then again Edward and I hardly ever got into squabbles. When you had all the odds against you and struggled every day to be with each other, fighting was just a waste of time.

"So do you want to go back down stairs?"

I thought for a moment. Even though I really wanted to just stay there with Edward, I knew Charlie would be looking for me soon. "I probably should go soon."

"Yeah. We wouldn't want Charlie sending out all the police in town looking for you. But before you leave you should meet Avery," he said as he got off the bed and held out his hand for me.

"Ok," I said to him. She wasn't a priority on my list when I first arrived, but now that the issue between Edward and I was resolved, I had to admit I was curious about the visitor.

We walked downstairs slowly now. Edward always took a human pace when he wanted to take advantage of the few seconds we had to ourselves and I wasn't complaining as we made our way down both staircases hand in hand. Everything about Edward came flooding back to me. His smell. His honey golden eyes. The way he smiled my favorite crooked smile, and the way it never failed to make my heart skip a beat. Of course when he did this, he would hear it and suddenly worry would cross his beautiful features as he looked to make sure I was all right.

Once we arrived at the end of the staircase, everyone was looking in mine and Edward's direction.

"Hi," was all I could manage. Edward could hear the nervousness in my voice and he stared to rub soothing circles on my hand as he pulled me forward to sit on the couch with him.

He sat down and immediately pulled me down to sit on his lap, not even giving me a chance to take the empty seat next to him, but I honestly preferred it this way.

"Bella," came Carlisle's voice from across the room, "This is Avery. She was just passing through and stopped by to meet us. We were talking and she was just telling us of her travels." Of course Carlisle was always a gentleman and quickly filled me in on the conversation that had just taken place.

"Yes," said the beautiful brunette from across the room. She had the characteristics all the other Cullen's had. Strikingly beautiful. Pale skin. White teeth. One thing was different though. And then I noticed the red lines in her eyes. " I have been traveling for quite some time now. I came across everyone's scent while I was traveling through a near by forest. I came here and I must say I was suddenly intrigued at the lifestyles you all have chosen. It must take great control to do this. I have heard of clans like yours and always wanted to do the same, but out there alone it is hard to stay in control of your thirst," she finished and looked at me. I heard a low growl from behind me and knew at once it was Edward.

"Don't worry," Avery said," I fed before I came here. I must say though . . . A human pet. It is very unheard of. Though I guess with you all being 'vegetarians' it doesn't bother you that much."

"It bothers us all the same, but Bella is a part of our family and we would do anything to protect her," Carlisle said, giving Avery a hidden warning.

"I understand Carlisle," she said and smiled. " I respect you all for the life you have created here, but I must be on my way. I may try this 'vegetarian' thing, but out there I may not be able to stick with it."

"You are traveling alone?" came Esme's voice from beside Carlisle.

"Yes," Avery said, nodding her head in conformation to her answer.

"Well . . . If you really are serious about wanting to take part in this lifestyle, I am sure everyone else wouldn't mind if you stayed here with us," Carlisle finished quickly catching on to Esme's idea.

"That would be wonderful, but I don't want to impose. You all are already so close and I would hate to just step in."

"Oh that's nonsense. I am sure everyone would love if you stayed," Esme said looking to everyone else. Everyone nodded and smiled, but Edward stayed still.

" Oh Edward just say yes. I already see her living with us," Alice told him.

Edward let out a deep sigh and said, " No. We don't mind."

"Then it is settled. We have a few extra rooms up stairs. You can pick which one you would like to stay in," Carlisle said as he stood up from his seat and walked toward the stairs.

"Thank you all! This really is so nice of you all," Avery said as she stood up.

"Oh! You don't have anything for your room! This means we can go _shopping!_" Alice screamed with delight at this new found information.

As I watched all the Cullens and Avery go upstairs, I got my first glimpse of a clock in hours.

"Ten-thirty!" I screamed as I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door. "I have to go. Tell everyone I said bye," I said to Edward as I got to the door.

"Do you still want to be alone tonight?" he asked with his head down.

I thought for a minute, then almost too quickly I said," No. I would love it if you would stay with me. That is if you want to of course."

"I'll be waiting," he said as he walked me to my truck and helped me in. Before he closed my door for me, I leaned into him letting my lips brush softly against his.

"Don't give me motivation for speeding," I joked as he closed my door.

"Bella Swan. Don't you dare!"

"I won't," I promised as I put the truck in gear and began to make my way down the Cullen's long driveway. And to think Alice says _I_ worry too much

* * *

**Please please please! Review... It is the only thing that keeps my mind working to come up with ideas and right now my brain is dry... So once again. Please review... Every time you do not review a unicorn dies... Keep the unicorns alive!  
**


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